Health minister Lord Darzi said the clusters would bring together organisations from the NHS, higher education, industry and other public and private sector organisations.

The DoH is providing £10m in funding to set up the partnerships, which will aim to provide best practice education and training for nurses, doctors, dentists and the full range of professions in all healthcare settings.

This in turn will quickly bring the latest innovations in care and treatment, including new medicines and devices to NHS patients.

Health Minister Lord Darzi said: ‘I encourage organisations from all relevant sectors to apply. HIECs are special partnerships that draw on the wealth of skills and experience of their members to improve the development of high quality care and services by quickly bringing the benefits of research and innovation directly to patients.’